Hi all,

New to the forum. came upon it researching a newly acquired boat.

I recently picked up a 1982 Sawyer Charger. Pretty certain it's the fiber glass as opposed to the kevlar.

It is in good shape with the exception of some damage on the bow. See photos. Curious if anyone has thoughts on the best way to repair the damage. I'm assuming I need to get things fixed up prior to getting it on the water.

Appreciate any and all guidance.

You need a skid plate kit for a royalex canoe. Do a web search to find one. Follow instructions. There are also YouTube videos on how to do it.

The most common canoe repair out there! There are many schools of thought about skid plates. Check out YouTube or other forums that are more specific to builders. Mike McCrea over at Canoetripping.net is the absolute expert IMO. He has done many wonderful right-ups and seems to be constantly researching and testing better methods and materials for this. The most common mistake DIYers make is to use too much resin which adds unnecessary weight. Peel ply is a good idea to help with this. There are many small shops around that will do this for you, however it is easy to do yourself. Be warned, skid plates are like the gateway drug of the canoe building world!

I would re-gel it. Skids can be messy, and are generally add weight. Just down the road from you is a supplier and would have the materials you need. I'm certain there are experts in your area as well that can help with the prossess.
http://www.restexcomposites.com

Composite supply near Matt

As Z4K stated, Mike is the best, and his posts offer easy to follow instructions:
Skid Plate Repairs

Thank you all for the recommendations

I would just slap a nice trim skid plate on it (as in the McCrea vids), but first, I would fill in/level out the chip outs with some West System/Microballon mix (you can Google that). I never use the pre-made Kevlar felt skid plate kits on flatwater boats. Too bulky and messy. I cut my own from regular felt and kevlar cloth.

cowdoc: "I would just slap a nice trim skid plate on it (as in the McCrea vids), but first, I would fill in/level out the chip outs with some West System/Microballon mix (you can Google that). I never use the pre-made Kevlar felt skid plate kits on flatwater boats. Too bulky and messy. I cut my own from regular felt and kevlar cloth."

I've had success with filling gouges with JB Weld epoxy (I always have that around). You'll want to paint it for aesthetics though. I'd consider a skid plate only if you have to--I have two gel-coated glass boats that I've had for 25-35 years that have held up really well without them, and I don't baby my boats (I don't crash them on shore, but I don't wet foot either). Their gouges aren't quite as bad as what is shown, and I've patched them with no problem. I'd consider skid plates as a last resort--they add weight, may be unnecessary if you take care of your boat, and they affect the performance of the boat.